


The Skelefamily Chronicles

by SleepDeprivedFemale



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Babybones, Dadster, Gen, I lied, Times New Romans is the Aunt, Times Old Romans is the mum, hopefully it doesn't get sad, it got sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-03 15:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5295725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepDeprivedFemale/pseuds/SleepDeprivedFemale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief look on the family life of Gaster, Sans and Papyrus, up until when days started repeating.<br/>Ch1: Sans gets chased by half the Royal Guard while trying to get Papyrus an action figure.<br/>Ch2: Training with Dadster gets a bit out of hand.<br/>Ch3: Skelemom Appears!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Great Skeleton Chase of 1xxx

New Home. The capital of the Underworld, or at least as much a capital one could have when your ‘country’ consisted of ragged cave formations, a hollow belly tucked beneath the Earth’s surface. Nevertheless, monsterkind was anything if not earnest. The ‘kingdom’s capital’ was littered with arch-shaped stone buildings built haphazardly around the Palace, the latter being an imposing structure whose top fused with the rock above.

If one paid attention, they’d see through the luminous crystal’s light that the capital’s ceiling was also of interest, unnatural shapes protruding from the darkness. They were the remnants of one of the first attempts of escape; monsters dug upwards in hope the humans’ spell was a poorly thought-out last resort, brimming with loopholes.

It wasn’t.

But hey. It wasn’t all in vain. Thanks to the myriad of scaffolds and ingenious use of magic New Home’s ‘top’ was a district by itself, rock buildings protruding from the ceiling and suspended through the sheer stability of the Earth’s crust and a few extra magic protection spells woven into the rock. Not the best in terms of safety or structural integrity, but damn impressive to look at.

And, as a young skeleton in an oversized jacket was currently experiencing, they were very fun to parkour on, especially when chased by the half the Royal Guard.

“ _Sans Serif Gaster!_ ”

The skeleton in question barely held in an amused snort, bright yellow boots squeaking against the cobblestone as he ducked into another narrow alleyway. Though small and chubby –for a skeleton- the child moved relatively seamlessly from half-collapsed cobblestone to sound rock foundation, over abandoned stone fences, rubble and the like. His jacket, unnecessarily baggy to the point where its ends nearly touched ground, flailed wildly with the boy’s hectic pace as he turned a tight corner over a half-fallen pillar.

“When I get you young man, you’ll be grounded until your bones creak from old age!” The shrill voice reverberated throughout the narrow hallways, accompanied by the sound of with heavy footsteps and the loud clangs of old medieval-like armour. Sans glanced from his hiding place, seeing the stout female skeleton bark orders at the rest of monsters which were also clad in similar armour.

Well… All the more reason for him to keep evading arrest. Sans peaked again from the top of the column, to the monsters roaming at the ‘bottom’.

…They seemed utterly confused. Fun.

“New!” The female skeleton turned to see a stocky Knight-Knight scratch her head in confusion. “I can’t find the babybones anywhere! You sure he went into that alley?”

“On my medals!” the elder skeleton replied, her cheekbones a bright orange colour that could be mistaken for lava. “That little troublemaker is somewhere around here, I feel it in my bones. What on Earth was he thinking, sneaking in, and what the hell is my brother-in-law doing-?”

The young monster’s grin widened as the female skeleton went on another tirade, her voice rivalling a sonic boom in sheer volume. He couldn’t help letting out an amused snort.

The Guard’s head did an almost 180o degree turn, immediately homing in on the unexpected sound.

Welp. Time for Plan B.

The young monster gave the Guard a little wave. “hiya auntie”

“Sans! Get down from here this instant!” A small pause. “Wait, how did you get up there in the first place?!”

Sans threw up his hands in delight, “shortcuts!”

The Head of the Royal Guard threw the boy a confused half-glare, before shaking her head. “No matter. Get down right _now_.”

“k” Sans made his descent.

In extreme slow motion.

A minute passed. Some of the other guards gathered around the half-collapsed pillar.

New narrowed her eyes. “Sans.”

“auntie”

More minutes passed. A crowd of Royal Guards gathered.

“Hurry up.”

“i am”

Even more time passed. A Final Froggit on the back had fallen asleep.

“Don’t make me come up there.”

Sans stopped his almost non-existent descent to give his relative a ‘good-natured’ grin. He applied most on his weight on his right foot, so he could twist his spine to look at the fellow monster.

His support gave in and collapsed, the little skeleton about to follow along. Oh dear.

“ _Good Grief get the child-!_ ”

There was no need. There was a flash of dark blue and Sans found himself floating in mid-air. The boy however, completely ignored the supernatural light around him and focused on his relative, whose expression an entertaining mix of worry and frustration. The older skeleton’s right hand was also bathed in the same ethereal glow.

“oops. thanks. guess I needed a little _lift_ , didn’t i?”

No one noticed a moderately sized boulder behind the pillar land on the floor, the light-blue glow around it dissipating.

New’s face eventually settled for resigned displeasure. The little skeleton floated to her, and she grabbed him by the oversized shirt and jacket. The blue glow around sans disappeared, and the boy was now help up by the female skeleton, his baggy shirt catching up on his ribcage.

“I found the child. Disband,” she announced to the rest of the gathered monsters, who nonchalantly went their own ways. New started walking–or more accurately _stomping_ \- her way out of the district, Sans still hanging in mid-air and swinging like a pendulum.

“i can walk”

“And have you ran away? I think not.”

Sans tilted his head in surrender. New’s pace didn’t falter. They’d reached a spiralling staircase, half of it standing in mid-air, whereas the other half was fused with the wall on the side.

“Can’t see what my sister saw in your father boy,” the female skeleton muttered as she went down the stairs.

“come on aunt New-”

“It’s _Times New Roman_ for you, you little outlaw. What did you think you were doing?! This area is out of bounds!”

The younger skeleton shrugged, still in mid-air. “I’s jus’ explorin’”

“And you though the best place to do that would be the half-crumbling ruins of the old Tavani area?!”

“yep”

“…Why?”

Sans shrugged again. “it’s a cool area. and it’s close to the channel”

The older skeleton let out a long-suffering sigh. “Of course. The channel.” The ‘channel’ was a small tunnel, barely fitting in a small person, which connected with the surface. Occasionally things from the above would come through, falling through the tunnel until they formed an amorphous pile in the inner reaches of the Tavani district. It was an endless source of stress for the Head of the Royal Guard, as more than one daring explorers were willing to face falling to their doom for mere trinkets. “You’re wasting your time, dear niece. Anything that comes from the channel is placed at the Central Library and examined until released for civilian use.”

“sounds boring”

“It’s protocol, in case something dangerous makes it through.” Truth be told, she agreed with the process, though she wished there was some sort of organised scavenging sessions from the Royal Guard. So far they’d let the pile accumulate. Maybe she would talk to the King about setting up a regular shift. “We know humanity’s cruelty, do we not?”

“…” Sans didn’t answer.

Well. A t this point New might as well address the elephant in the room. “…What’d you find?” she hummed.

The abrupt question surprised the child, and he looked away. “nothin’”

“Sans.”

The young skeleton shifted, which only made him swing again. He quickly glanced at a faint bulge on the left side of his pocket. At this point, he might as well have it painted a fluorescent green.

“I know it’s in your pocket, young man.”

After a brief shocked look, the small skeleton rubbed the bone of his nose, before reaching in his pocket and taken out a dark-brown figurine and presenting it with both hands to the older skeleton.

“That’s… a doll?” It was more of a statement than a question. The figurine had four limbs, two arms and two legs, seemingly connected by little rolling balls. The figurine itself did not have many discernible features, probably worn away; any and all paint having been washed away by time and heaven knows what else.

“’s a wooden action-figure” San briefly twirled the figurine before grinning to himself –or was that a neutral expression? Hew nephew’s grin seemed to be literally plastered on his face. “i’ll give it to pappy”

Time’s expression faltered. “That’s ok… I suppose. The figure appears to be harmless.” She cleared her voice. “As head of the Royal Guard, you request to claim ownership over this Surface Object has been approved.”

“cool! thanks auntie, you rock”

“It’s Aunt New,” the older skeleton quickly corrected. Her expression softened. “You’re welcome.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

After an unknowable –to Sans, because he took a brief nap- time period, New had angrily marched her way onto New Home’s ‘surface’, at the outskirts of the city close to Hotland. Though it wasn’t as bad, as the ‘city of fire itself’, the excess heat from the slowly moving lava bathed the area in a warm orange glow and a warmer climate –or at least the underground’s equivalent of one.

The Head of the Royal Guard stood in front of an old, but renovated house. Its ancient walls were made of stone as with every other building, but the little details such as metal antennas protruding from the top, and a constant buzz of electricity made that house stand out more than the rest.

Times New Roman knocked. No response.

“Gaster.” She knocked again. No response.

“Gaster…” she growled, knocking harder. The door didn’t open.

“ _Gaster_!” She full-on punched the door. There was a crack. Sans felt sorry for the wood… No one came.

“I swear, if he’s gone deaf too…” The female skeleton muttered to herself, before resuming her pounding. “ _Oi, open up you bird-brains!_ ”

“don’t you mean bone-head?”

New narrowed her eyes in the opposite of appreciation. San’s grin widened.

After a few more knocks there was a sudden crash, followed by a rumble of noise until it quitted down to pair of hasty footsteps.

The door opened. The one who opened the door, a male thin skeleton dressed in a black coat and white turtleneck, initially gave his two fellow monsters a look of confusion followed by an oblivious, friendly wave.

Sans, still hanging in mid-air, reciprocated the gesture. “hey dad. ‘sup?”

The man finally noticed the female skeleton’s menacing glare and lost about half his height.

“ _Wingdings Dingbat Gaster_.”

“oh no” Sans mumbled. “dad, she’s using full names, run”

“Tell me, my dear doctor. Are you my brother-in-law?”

The man looked between the two skeletons, before nervously nodding.

“Did you marry my dear twin sister, Times Old Roman?”

Another nervous nod.

“And did you, have this child,” she wiggled a grinning Sans, still dangling by his loose jumper, “and a few years after, another babybones?”

Another nod, accompanied with a blush.

“That makes this child your son. And you’re supposed to watch over him. Correct?”

Another nod, this time much slower and with an increase in sweat.

“That means making sure your child doesn’t run off to ran along half-crumbling, out-of-bounds areas!”

There it was. The explosion. The breaking point. The final straw.

It was _glorious_.

…

After a few more minutes of unnecessary screaming, nervous gestures, and a young monster more chill than it had any right to, the Head of the Royal Guard deposited the child on the scientist’s lap and angrily stomped away from the house.

The tall monster watched the woman leave and gulped. Sans shifted in the embrace.

“got auntie pretty mad didn’t i?”

Gaster let out a small inaudible sigh and gave Sans a small comforting pat to the head, before taking the boy inside and letting him down. The little skeleton immediately ran further inside the house, while the scientist quietly closed the door behind him, and then followed his son in the inner reaches of their home. They made it past a worn sofa, a table filled with blueprints and sheets of paper filled with equations and handwriting that wasn’t neat or precise, but rather approaching legibility in the opposite direction.

Eventually, Gaster made it to the quiet part of the house, a small but colourful room with a garishly flowery wallpaper.

“pappy!” the young skeleton rushed to a bone-themed crib, where a small bundle was cooing playfully.

The Royal Scientist watched in contentment as sans took a small footstool and climbed it to lean over the crib. The little monster’s hand reached into his oversized jacket, taking out a wooden object and playfully waving it above his little brother. Said little brother giggled in delight, small, bony arms flailing wildly, trying to catch the elusive toy.

After a few minutes spent like that, Sans withdrew the toy, much to Papyrus’ loud objections.

“sorry bro, but I gotta wash this”

The little skeleton made his way to the kitchen, where his dad was. W.D. Gaster, or most commonly referred to as simply Gaster, was a relatively imposing monster. His tall, thin frame, combined with the flowing black robe (which doubled as a lab coat) the two mysterious cracks on his face and holes on his palms, made the Royal Scientist look like something straight out of a pulp horror novel, a mad scientist toying with forces one shouldn’t interfere with.

“hey dad” Said scientist was now eyeing a smoking pot in disappointment. Sans could make out the smell of burned spaghetti.

In reality, Gaster was as dangerous as the Lesser Dogs at Snowdin town.

“HELLO **.** ” His hands full, Gaster resorted to utilizing his chime-like voice. Technically the Royal Scientist could talk but anything he said sounded incomprehensible to most, like a complete new language. The few who could understand his speech were his two sons (of course), his wife (after a few frustrating months), his sister-in-law New (whenever she was feeling generous), and various lab assistants could decipher bits and pieces now and then.

“I WAS HOPING TO DISCOVER A METHOD ON HOW MUCH TIME IT TAKES FOR SPAGGETTI TO BE PERFECTLY COOKED.” He eyed the half-burned mass of pasta. “NEEDLESS TO SAY I WAS UNSUCCESSFUL.”

“doesn’t the package say 12 minutes?”

The adult skeleton shrugged as he placed the pot on the kitchen sink and began scraping away at the burned food. “IF WE FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS BLINDLY AND DID NOT EXPERIMENT, PROGRESS WOULD COME TO A HALT.”

“eh, I guess so” Sans, still equipped from the footstool he used at this brothers room, placed it right behind his dad. Now able to reach the kitchen sink, he leaned over to the soap dispenser, where he placed the wooden figurine below it.

Gaster stopped his scrubbing to sign at Sans. “WHAT IS THIS?”

“it’s an action figure!” Sans said as he drenched the toy in soap, opened the sink and began washing it.

Gaster raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and tilted his head questioningly. “HOW NICE.”

“yeah”

The two spent a few minutes away in silence. Sans grin didn’t falter, though Gaster kept glancing nervously at his boy.

Eventually, he sighed and stopped his scrubbing entirely. “SANS.” Upon seeing his son turning to face him, Gaster switched to sign language. “WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS ‘ACTION FIGURE’?”

The little skeleton’s grin froze in his face and he looked away. Gaster frowned. He knew that look.

“IT WAS AT THE TAVANI AREA, WASN’T IT?”

No response.

The older monster sighed. “YOUR AUNT IS RIGHT,” he signed. “IT IS DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE.”

“…it’s not that bad” the little skeleton finally said. Gaster did not look satisfied with that answer. Sans retreated further into his jacket. “i was practising my magic”

“YOU WENT THERE TO PRACTISE?” Now Gaster was confused. “THE ONLY REASON I CAN THINK YOU WOULD GO UP THERE WAS TO PRACTISE _ALONE_ ,” he signed, exaggerating the last gesture.

Sans placed both hands in his jacket. “kind off”

The Royal Scientist tilted his head in confusion. “WHY? I’M SURE IT’S SAFER IF YOU PRACTISE AT SCHOOL? KING ASGORE RECENTLY MADE SURE THAT ALL YOUNG MONSTERS LEARN HOW TO CONTROL THEIR MAGIC VIA SPECIAL FACILITIES?”

“i mean, the school had an ‘indestructible’ practise dummy but I kinda… broke it” Sans nonchalantly shrugged. “freaked some of the teachers too”

“AH.” A pause. “WELL, THAT JUST MEANS YOUR MAGIC IS POWERFULL. NOTHING BAD ABOUT THAT.”

“yeah, but I didn’t want to accidentally… hurt someone, like the gym teacher”

Ah. Gaster saw where his son’s train of thought went. Gym teachers were one of the highest-paid teachers in schools, partly because their job recently included making sure young monsters learned how to control their magic. That involved learning to wield it in the first place, and many attempts ended in… potentially harmful situations. Hopefully, no teacher had been dusted yet, though that was more due to the abundance of food and other healing items they carried with them. Sans might have been afraid his magic may be a 1-Hit-KO, and if what he said about the dummy was true, Gaster believed it was a reasonable hesitation to have.

“WE CAN TRY PRACTISING TOGETHER.” To be honest, Gaster was absolutely awful at magic. Science, especially meta-biology was his strong point. Sure he could do the most basic bone attack, but his healing power was terrible (as evidenced by the two cracks on his skull, remnants of a battle he’d rather not think about) and as for any other type of attack/magic he was abysmally bad at… with one unwieldy exception.

Sans hesitant expression revealed he knew his father’s magic was on par with his cooking skills. “but dad, you don’t do blue magic”

“NO, BUT I CAN DO OTHER COOL THINGS.” Gaster winked. “PLUS, BASIC MAGIC IS VERY SIMILAR ACROSS MONSTERS, ESPECIALLY BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDERN. ALSO, HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT YOUR DAD WORKS WITH? I’M SURE MY TEA BREAKS AT THE LAB AFTER THE CORE IS COMPLETE WILL POSE MORE DANGER THAN YOU, SON.” That was true. After spending so much of one’s time to close proximity with lava, while simultaneously dealing with potentially unstable chemicals, Gaster had his fair share of survival skills (how much he chose to use them was another matter entirely). In addition, though his magic was terrible, he doubted any other monster new more about how magic worked than him. He was the Royal Scientist for a reason.

“heh, cool… i’m in”

“THERE’S ONE CONDITION. WE WILL TRAIN TOGETHER IF YOU PROMISE NOT TO SNEAK INTO FORBIDDEN TERRITORY.”

“you’re driving a hard bargain, dad” Sans giggled but eventually agreed, causing Gaster to give him the most awkward of parental hugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Babybones! And Dadster! :3 I’m in the camp that thinks Gaster is a huge sad nerd, timeline-breaking shenanigans included.
> 
> Next chapter will be up on ‘I have no idea’. I hope soon.


	2. Bone-Fide Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have made a list of skeleton puns. They will all be used eventually. ALL OF THEM. (Also small stylistic change, I’ll have Gaster’s word unbolded for the rest of this fic cause it looks off (done)

It’d been about a week since Sans had agreed on practising with his dad. However, since the promise had been made during a Monday, Gaster had been busy with work on building the Core (something about the metal structure not being as sturdy as projected). Maybe one day Sans could help. He was good at math. Plus he really liked science-related stuff, and there was this one story he’d read in a human book where a guy built a spaceship and travelled the sky… Not that Sans had ever seen the sky but he could guess. The surface world would probably be like the underground, only without the ceiling… weird.

The sound of someone entering the house alerted Sans and he sat up from the couch, seeing his dad enter the room. Gaster gave Sans a quick wave before heading to the laundry room. A small elaborate badge on his white turtleneck read ‘Dr. W.D. Gaster, Royal Scientist’. Upon reaching the laundry room the scientist carefully removed the badge. He then took out his lab-coat from the plastic bag and tossing it into the washing machine.

About twenty minutes later, Papyrus was asleep on his crib after valiant efforts by Sans and Gaster, involving the wooden action figure, cuddling, and a horribly out of tune ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ sang by both parties.

The Royal Scientist took out a small duffel bag filled to the brim with treats, including Cinnamon Bunnies imported from Snowdin, many packages of Potato Chisps and a lone Spider Cider. He gave his son a reassuring wink, and they walked out of the house. After making sure he’d locked the door, he held Sans by the hand and they walked away from Hotland, onto the much darker Waterfall area. Around them, people were walking mostly to their houses ready to have a good night’s sleep... As much as there was a night in the Underground.

Well, the concepts of night and day were prevalent in the Monster Kingdom. There was a very loose time-system in place. Everyone was reliant on watches and clocks to keep the time, which resulted in the clock-making business becoming a major industry. From what little Sans had pieced together during history class (he had a habit of… sleeping at some lessons he considered boring), monsters kept to the same time system they used when they were above ground, which was reliant on the Earth’s rotation on its axis. A full spin lasted 24 hours; there was daytime, when the sun was visible, and night-time, when the sun was not visible. In tribute to their past, there were two major distinctions in the Underground’s 24 hour period. The first twelve hours were considered ‘daytime’, and that was when a considerable portion of the population would start their daily routine, go to work and all that jazz. A bit less than half the monster population was active during ‘night time’. Then there were the University students, which kept no schedule and were switching between the two time-zones constantly and without control. To be honest there wasn’t much difference in either. The Underground had the same glow no matter what time it was.

Well, there was a small difference. At night time Waterfall area was almost empty, save for a few young monsters hanging out at the outskirts either being in their ‘rebel years’ or simply in quiet resignation when they realised they had 3 essays and 2 lab reports due this week.

Sans and Gaster walked through the flower, past a field of Echo Flowers, where hushed wishes, loud dreams, and the occasional gossip, echoed along the cavern’s walls. The little skeleton kept close to his dad. He wasn’t that used to the darkness and quietness of Waterfall. Both Hotland and New Home were relatively bright, and almost always buzzing with life (or lava).

“hey dad”

Gaster turned to his son. The little monster was power-walking in order to keep up with his father. The tall skeleton slowed his pace.

“humans aren’t that bad are they?”

Gaster frowned. That question came out of nowhere. The skeleton’s first answer would have been ‘yes’ but he restrained himself just in time. “WELL… THAT’S A TRICKY QUESTION. HUMANS ARE A POPULUS AND DIVERSE SPECIES, AND GENERALISATIONS ARE _ALMOST_ ALWAYS INNACURATE.”

“so?”

“IN THE SAME WAY NOT ALL MONSTERS HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY, SOME HUMANS CAN BE GOOD, SOME CAN BE BAD.”

“auntie doesn’t like them. She was angry at me from going to the channel”

“HER MAIN SOURCE OF ANGER WAS YOU SNEAKING IN A FORBIDDEN DISTRICT.” Sans did not look satisfied with his answer. Gaster sighed, and continued. “YOUR AUNT IS VERY GOOD AT HOLDING GRUDGES. I DO NOT BLAME HER. IT WAS THE HUMANS WHO CRAFTED AND ERECTED THE BARRIER, TRAPPING US HERE,” he signed. Hesitantly he brought his two index fingers and thumbs together, forming a triangle, which he then broke by pulling his hands away.

“but…?” Sans interpreted.

Gaster repeated the gesture. “BUT… THE KING AND QUEEN HAVE ADOPTED A HUMAN AS THEIR CHILD, SO THEY CAN’T BE THAT BAD RIGHT…?” There _was_ the buttercup incident, but the skeleton had decided not to dwell too much about it. It _had_ looked like a genuine accident…

“hm” Sans made a non-committal noise. “guess so” he mumbled, and the two skeletons walked in silence.

Eventually they’d reached an empty clearing. It was against the cavern’s wall on one side and surrounded by water on all other sides. A small wooden bridge connected it to the rest of Waterfall. The two monsters crossed, and walked close to the cavern wall. Eventually, Gaster settled for a spot hidden from view via an overzealous patch of flora. He lay down his duffel bag, before also sitting down on the earth.

A semi-confused Sans copied his dad’s movements.

“LET’S START WITH THE BASICS!” Gaster signed excitedly. “OUR BODIES CONTAIN LITTLE PHYSICAL MATTER; THEY ARE MOSTLY MADE UP OF MAGIC. IN ESSENCE, WHAT WE CALL USING MAGIC IS SIMPLY LEARNING HOW TO HANDLE THE ‘EXTRA’ AMOUNT OF IT WE GENERATE.”

Sans nodded in understanding.

“WELL, I WOULD NOT SAY IT IS UNUSUAL. SKELETONS ARE MORE RELIANT ON MAGIC, AS WE DON’T HAVE ORGANS, SKIN OR ANYTHING ELSE THAN BONES. SOMETHING HAS TO KEEP OUR BODIES RUNNING,” Gaster signed. “AS A RESULT SKELETON MONSTERS TEND TO PRODUCE MORE MAGIC COMPARED TO NORMAL MONSTERS. THANKS TO IMPROVING LIVING CONDITIONS,” he rattled the duffel filled with Monster food, “MONSTERS ARE GENERALLY HEALTHIER. A HEALTHIER MONSTER PRODUCES MORE ENERGY AND SO ON, SO FORTH.”

“huh”

“YES… THE MOST DISASTROUS THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO A MONSTER IS HAVING THEIR MAGIC DISRUPTED-” Gaster stopped mid-sentence. Oh no, why had he even _mentioned_ that? If he could punch himself without Sans noticing, he would have done so by now.

“UM…THINK OF IT AS MAKING MORE EFFICIENT FUEL FOR AN ENGINE.” Yes Gaster, change the subject. Pretend like you didn’t just explain to your son why his mother was under intensive care. “THAT MEANS THAT SKELETONS LIKE ME AND YOU CAN SUBSIST ON USING LESS MAGIC, WHILE OUR BODIES MAKE CONSIDERABLY MORE MAGIC…. YOUR STRONG MAGIC IS PROBABLY AN INDICATION THAT YOUR ARE A HEALTHY YOUNG MONSTER, YOUR BODY BEING EFFICIENT AT PRODUCING AND EFFECTIVELY MANAGING YOUR MAGIC.”

“so does that mean I’m super healthy or something? my hp is still 1”

“AH. WELL, IT IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR MONSTER YOUR AGE TO STILL HAVE ONE HP. REMEMBER, IT STANDS FOR ‘HOLDING POINTS’ IE. HOW WELL YOUR BODY IS HELD TOGETHER. IN ADDITION, SKELETON MONSTERS ARE MADE UP OF ONLY BONES. THERE IS LITTLE CONNECTIVE TISSUE. THIS MEANS THAT, IN GENERAL, THAT WE HAVE LESS THAN AVERAGE HP.”

“oh. that kinda sucks”

Gaster shrugged in the international ‘what-can-you-do’ gesture. Skeletons were the Glass Cannon equivalent of a monster. Other kinds of monsters tended to have different general attributes, though there wasn’t any cap and you could easily have say, a super-strong fish monster (usually their high HP came in cost of their attack power), or a lizard monster adept in magic attacks. Gaster was a strange case. Saying his magic attacks were ‘weak’ was an understatement, but he had a very powerful gimmick.

“so… how do I learn how to control my magic?”

“IT IS LIKE LEARNING TO WALK. YOU DID NOT LEARN HOW TO WALK PROPERLY IMMEDIATELY. INSTEAD YOU HAD TO LEARN A PATTERN, A SET OF MOTION THAT WOULD ALLOW TO MOVE WHILE MAINTAINING YOUR BALANCE.” Gaster gave Sans a good-natured wink. “AND WHEN YOU LEARN HOW TO WALK, YOU BEGIN BY CRAWLING.”

“and how do I learn how to do that?”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR!” Gaster stood up, his son following in tow. “NOW SANS, I WANT YOU TO FACE THE WALL.”

The boy frowned but did as told. “k”

“NOW, ATTACK IT”

“…attack the wall?”

Gaster nodded.

Sans shrugged and extended a hand towards the stone. Instantaneously, a wave of light blue magic pulsed forwards from the small boy. It spread in a wide axis, white half-formed structures appearing where magic clumped before dissolving into blue mist when they collided with the stone.

“THERE!” The Royal Scientist clapped excitedly. “THAT WAS A PRECURSOR TO A BONE ATTACK!”

“ayyy, progress”

“NOW, YOU SHOULD NARROW THE REACH OF YOUR ATTACK. MAKE IT NARROWER, UNTIL THE BONES BECOME MORE STABLE.”

“can ya show me?” Sans asked, pocketing his hand.

“OH WELL, I SUPPOSE I CAN… TRY,” the scientist signed hesitantly. “…I AM NOT GOOD WITH MAGIC.”

Sans winked and gave the taller skeleton a thumbs up. “i believe in ya dad”

Gaster focused. Summoning the most basic of attacks took a considerable effort from him. But focus too much and, well…. He didn’t want to accidentally scare his son.

A small lonely bone protruded from the ground before lazily making its way away from the Doctor.

“cool”

“EH, YES.” Gaster was not sure if his son thought his attack was intentionally pathetic. He decided against checking. “DO YOU WANT TO TRY AGAIN?”

“k...” Sans extended his arm forward again. “so I just focus on making a bone?”

“NOT NECESSARILY. YOU CAN DO THAT IF IT IS EASIER, OR YOU CAN TRY AND FOCUS YOUR MAGIC ON ONE SPOT, WHERE IT WILL NATURALLY FORM AN ATTACK WHEN CLUMPED.”

It was repetitive, but after several tries, Sans could consistently make at least one bone form at his attacks. After that he tried experiment, seeing if he could consciously make a bone bigger or smaller. This resulted in bones with the dimensions ranging from a supermodel to an inflatable ball. One of the bones had the perfect ‘body type’ for the Miss/Mr Underground contest. It resembled a spiral staircase.

Despite his sons antics and the… interesting skeletal structured he conjured, Gaster frowned. So far he hadn’t seen anything out of the usual about his son’s magic, other than a wider field of action but that was about it. Maybe that dummy was a bust?

On the side, Sans took a step back, due to a bone which became wider than he expected. His yellow boot caught up on a root. Sans lost his balance. His eyes darkened with fear.

Gaster felt a pressure on his soul, being slowly lifted up… then slammed down. _Hard_.

… _Ow_

“dad!”

Gaster groaned as much as his non-existent vocal cords allowed. He saw Sans running to him eyes wide and gave the boy a wobbly thumbs up. It was good he’d brought all that food with him.

Soon enough, he felt two tiny hands on his shoulder. Sans looked extremely distraught. Gaster gave him a small smile. On a level the Royal Scientist was happy. That’d been an impressive lift-

Oh, he _shouldn’t_.

…He would.

“IT’S OK,” he eventually signed. “YOUR MAGIC IS STRONG.” Oh, _the anticipation was killing him_.

“…why are you smiling?”

“BECAUSE YOU SURE…” Gaster switched to speech, “LIFTED MY SPIRITS.”

Complete silence.

Sans stared in shock. His eye twitched. “heh” The grin was back at his face. “heheh” Now the grin was overtaking his face. “hehehehahahahaha” Sans was full-on hysterically laughing, rolling to the side while clutching his ribs. Gaster let out a few chuckles as well.

“dad, that was brutal.. your joke” He let out a wheezed breath, “it was too _humerus_ ” Sans’ hysterical laughter was back at full force. “I can’t-”

“WHY SON,” The Royal Scientist used sign language, as he was failing to supress his own laughter, “MY JOKES. DO YOU NOT HAVE THE _STOMACH_ FOR THEM?”

“hahahahahahahahaha!”

After about half an hour of maniacal laughter and aneurism-inducing puns from both parties, the two settled down somewhat. Gaster was slowly eating a Cinnamon Bunny while Sans had stayed by his side the whole time.

“m sorry” the little skeleton mumbled.

“DON’T BE. NOT YOUR FAULT.” Some grammar had to be sacrificed to account for his one hand being preoccupied. “ALL MONSTERS CAN BE DANGEROUS. MAGIC IS A POWEFUL TOOL.”

Sans’ mood was not lifted.

“WE WILL VISIT MOM AT THE START OF NEXT WEEK. SHE WILL GIVE YOU ADVICE. THIS IS HER TYPE OF MAGIC.”

“k” the little monster’s voice was a whisper. “least i don’t have to worry about hurting people with one of your attacks”

“AH…” Gaster inadvertently let out. “THAT’S NOT… 100% TRUE.”

Sans paused. “Dad.”

His son’s voice was unnervingly serious. Oh no, why had he said that-

“you have a cool attack?!”

“E-E-EHM...” Neurotic Gaster was back at full-force.

“can ya show me?”

“T-THAT WOULD BE… UH…” His gestures became jumbled as his hands trembled.

“please?”

What little there was of Gaster’s defence almost crumbled by his son’s pleading expression.

…Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Sans would probably be able to do it one day too, though he doubted it would be of much use. Besides, he wasn’t close to humans. The ‘attack’ would be harmless.

“O…K…”

Gaster briefly closed his eyes as he focused on his magic. It’d been such a long time since he’s summoned them. He should make sure they weren’t as scary as he used to make them. Last thing he wanted was Sans to freak out, then freak out some more since the little skeleton now knew he could accidentally summon that attack.

He peeked at his creation. It was an amorphous mass of white magic thus far, though the general outline of the skull was there…

No wait, why were there sharp corners-it was supposed to be kid-friendly-!

After a few seconds of the amorphous glob being treated like Play-Dough, the blaster had settled in its final shape. The demonic-goat-skull aesthetic was still there, but the glowing irises were rounded, and the ‘teeth’ and protrusions were less… protrudy.

Gaster grimaced. He had tried to make it look friendly enough. Sans didn’t seem to mind; he looked in awe at the blaster, and took a few tentative steps forwards. The Royal Scientist gave him an encouraging smile. Among monsters, his blasters were just for show. They just stood there, uncharged, looking scary.

Still… the tall skeleton threw a nervous glance behind him, where the clearing connected to the rest of the Underground. The blasters had acquired quite a rumour during the war. If another monster was to see them right now…

He was forcefully focused back on reality when he’d heard the dreaded whining noise. Gaster’s Blaster had been fully charged.

The Royal Scientist backed away, instantly tearing his creation down. Sans flinched back at the sudden movement, though his amazed grin never left his face.

“so cool”

Gaster however, was having a mini-crisis. Why had the blaster reacted? How it had reacted, _to whom_ -?

His eyes feel on Sans. Oh no.

At this point, the little monster had noticed his dad looked more nervous than normal, which was quite an achievement by itself.

“dad?”

"TEST SOMETHING. STAY," the Royal Scientists signed. So he was down to utilizing zero grammar. Wonderful.

Gaster went on the other side of the clearing. He summoned his blaster. No charge.

He moved in halfway. He summoned his blaster. No immediate charge, but the faint whining indicated it was charging, slowly.

Then he walked to where Sans was, who kept looking at his father, confused at the whole ordeal. Gaster picked up the boy; one, to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally hit his son, and two, to see if his theory worked. He summoned a blaster.

The demonic skull glowed with magic, indicating it’d been charged.

He summoned another while making sure the other blaster didn’t go off.

The second blaster also got charged.

…What?

"dad?”

Gaster looked down, to see a frowning sans. His eyes had a pale blue glow to them.

"i think I’m getting a headache" The little skeleton closed his eyes, but the faint blue glow was still visible at the miniscule crack.

_No wait what was he thinking- he was causing his son pain this was no time for jotting down observations._

With a flick of his head, the two blasters dissolved to nothing.

"SANS?" He lightly shook his son, now fully resting on his lap. "ARE YOU BETTER NOW?" If skeletons could sweat from fear, Gaster would be a fountain.

"Kinda" the younger skeleton drawled. "'m very sleepy" he shifted in his dads embrace, using the soft fabric of the turtleneck as a pillow. "gonna have a nap..."

And just like that, Sans was off at dreamland.

Gaster nearly cried in relief. It was ok. Sans was ok. He hadn’t hurt his son.

Conquering his weak knees, the skeleton shifted so he was holding the little monster in one hand, the other taking hold of the duffel bag. He carefully walked back to their house.

What had happened with the blasters... In Gaster’s experience they only got charged when he was close to a human. In a way they were like a selective parasite. Alone they were just for show, but if they were close to a human, the only host as Gaster had assumed half an hour ago, they got charged and unleashed a devastating attack. Since that only happened when they were close to a human, he’d assumed they siphoned human magic. But they’d reacted to Sans too.... and judging for the sleeping lump on his chest, they’d absorbed something... an energy abundant in humans but rare in monsters?

Finally Gaster reached the house. He went into the boys’ room, where Papyrus was snoring away happily, and he deposited Sans on the bed next to the crib, careful not to jolt his son.

“aaaahhhhhh…”

Oh. He seemed to have awakened the other resident of the room.

Gaster moved in on the crib, where the sounds came. There a baby skeleton was shifting around, the onesie he was wearing being put in considerable strain as tiny hands caught and tugged on every available surface.

“HELLO,” Gaster signed, using the baby variant of sign language.

“aaaa…” The baby monster cooed. He attempted to cope the gesture but abandoned it halfway as it found his dad’s turtleneck all the more interesting.

“aaaaieeee,” the little skeleton babbled again, this time with purpose. He scrambled to get on top of the other skeleton’s shoulder.

Gaster frowned. Was Papyrus trying to say another word? He’d already said ‘mum’ (his wife’s excited scream woke up the entire hospital), then ‘dad’ (Gaster nearly fainted), followed by something that resembled ‘Sans’ (the older brother straight-up fainted). Papyrus’ vocabulary was expanding at an exponential and feint-inducing rate.

“aaaatie!” The Royal Scientist turned to see his son pointing at the room’s window. The children’s room was located next to the path of the capital, so it wasn’t unusual to see people walking from and to the capital. What was unusual was seeing his step-sister and another green turtle monster running like mad towards his front entrance. He knew him through his wife and her sister. Gerson was the previous head of the Royal Guard, and had even been a General at the War… No, don’t think about that. His skull’s cracks itched.

Gaster adjusted Papyrus on his lap, making sure they were both comfortable, before heading towards the door. Before he even took a step, there was a loud knock on his knock, then another, much like a few days before.

…The knocks where getting louder. Whatever had gotten New so agitated couldn’t be good.

The Royal Scientist opened the door and tilted his head at the monsters questioningly. New’s face was flushed while the other monster was clutching his side. The skeleton watched the two frantic monsters in confusion, whereas Papyrus retreated further into his father’s turtleneck at the monsters’ panicked expressions.

“Gaster!” New exclaimed through heavy breaths, “come with me right now!”

…

“ _The Prince is dead!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there I thought the story wouldn’t get sad. Oh well. More on the Gaster Blaster mystery next chapter. Skelemom should make an appearance too (you’re gonna hate how I’ll make her talk but yolo) Also, baby Papyrus is gonna be the end of me. 
> 
> ...This story has no beta. I can only imagine the sheer volume typos and funky grammar it has…


	3. Skelefamily Assemble!

It was with great haste that the three monsters made their way to the throne room. Through the frantic running, New had given Gaster a brief rundown of what had happened; the human child had gotten deathly sick the other day, and eventually passed away a few hours ago. The young prince had taken the human’s soul –what caused that in the first place, no one knew- and tried to venture into the human world with the human’s body. However, something happened –and the older skeleton could guess that ‘something’ were certain evolved apes with murderous intent- and Asriel ended up in the throne room, his body slowly dying and turning into dust.

When he entered the throne room, Gaster immediately straightened up. Mourning or not, the King and Queen still commended his respect (how much he wanted to respect them was another matter entirely). Next to him, New also straightened her back, whereas the turtle monster stayed back at a respectful distance.

It was a strange sight. The King, a bubbly and massive man usually reclining in his comfortable chair with tea in one hand and occasionally a word puzzle on the other, now stood dejectedly in the middle of the room. His large frame was hunched, shoulders lowered defeated to his sides. The Queen wasn’t much better. Though smaller than her husband, her frame was impressive indeed, being a bit taller and considerably bulkier than the skeleton scientist. Yet she seemed to have withdrawn into herself, and any form of composure she had was long gone.

“Your Majesties,” New sombrely announced.

Gaster gulped. He had no idea why he was there. To confirm the prince was dead? ‘ _Yup, your children are dead, Your Majesties. Even from the side I can see one of them has turned to dust, the other left his empty husk behind. Trust me, I have Dr. in my title,’_ a not-so-chipper part of his mind babbled, and the Royal Scientist shook his head to get rid of the cynical internal monologue.

The Queen remained silent, her face obscured, but clearly in grief. The King eventually spoke, and the way his face muscle’s tensed made it obvious he was a hair’s width from a breakdown as well. “Is there anything… you can do?”

Gaster frowned. Of course there’s nothing he can do, he’s a scientist, not a medical doctor! He studies the biological basis of magic –with a bit of engineering, physics and plenty of chemistry thrown in. It’s not like he can bring people back from the dead-

Oh.

Well, it wasn’t exactly that, but it came petty close. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and her sister’s sheer determination at testing out every variable, Gaster would have been a widower.

Still, there was nothing he could do in this case. The Royal Scientist shook his head morosely. He glanced at New, who nodded and began signing away, with the female skeleton interpreting.

“The Doctor says the conditions are vastly different, Your Majesties. The young prince seemed to have suffered an instant fatal blow and has already-” she frowned at Gaster signing, “he has already ‘fallen down’.”

Asgore’s face became even tenser, whereas the Queen’s shoulder trembled. “And… there’s no way…?”

The male skeleton shook his head and continued signing.

“…Time Old Roman’s wound was not immediately fatal, but progressive. Dr Gaster managed to stop the deterioration, not the damage itself, Your Majesties.”

There was a bit more back-and-forth and it was apparent Asgore and Toriel were desperate for some sort of a second chance, a miracle. It unnerved the Royal Scientist even more, and his signing became a bit more erratic.

Eventually, after it was glaringly obvious that the two children would remain dead, the Queen left for her chambers in deathly silence. King Asgore was still sitting next to flower bed. What was once a ruler he’d admired, and occasionally feared, had been reduced to a teary-eyed hunching mass.

And then there was the dust... despite the lack of nerve endings, Gaster felt a chill running his spine. He hadn’t personally interacted with the prince; what little he’d seen was from the young monster showing up at the most inconvenient of times; whenever Gaster reported to Asgore. One time he ran to his father head on, yelling ‘Baaah!,’ and 'ramming' the King. If there was a quintessential personification of childishness, it was -had been- the young prince.

The Royal Scientist looked at the King again. So far the man hadn’t uttered a word, probably lost in his grief.

Gaster meekly approached the King...He wasn’t good at consoling. The lack of an understandable voice only worsened the fact. But as a fellow father... he could empathise to a point. He laid a hand on his shoulder -and even then he had to stretch a bit. Gaster was tall, but Asgore was simply massive.

The King jerked at the touch and Gaster withdrew immediately. Maybe he shouldn’t have-

"Doctor," the King’s voice was hoarse. "I apologise... The gesture is appreciated."

Hesitantly, Gaster placed his hand on the King´s back again. They stayed like that for a few minutes. The Royal Scientist gulped nervously.

"You are a father too, are you not?" The King said in a low tone, inclining his head so he could see the skeleton.

Gaster slowly nodded, before bringing up two fingers.

"Two children? How wonderful…"

Then again, Gaster should have left the ‘two’ part out if he had any semblance of social skills. Hello crippling regret, my old friend.

"Make s-sure..." Asgore voice broke. "…B-Be good to them, alright?"

Gaster nodded vigorously until it felt like his head would disconnect from the rest of his body.

The King turned around, focusing on the dust. "Thank you doctor... I need to be alone right now."

Gaster withdrew his arms and stepped back. He hesitated for a bit, before giving a brief bow and walked hastily out the room.

As soon as he left the Throne, a sob reverberated throughout the whole castle.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

When Gaster arrived home, Sans was at the living room next to an excited Papyrus drawing wildly on a blank piece of paper. The younger sibling’s drawing looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, whereas Sans’ was most influenced by post-modern art i.e. his drawing consisted of a single wiggly line.

Sans frowned when he looked at Gaster. That was strange. His dad looked shaken. "everything alright, dad? Papy woke me up, so i got us some crayons-"

He was immediately enveloped in a tight hug.

Papyrus let out a happy giggle and sounds that resembled the words "group hug!" as his tiny arms spread across their dad and his brother.

“dad?” Sans’ muffled voice came from his father’s embrace.

"I’M SO GLAD… YOU’RE SAFE.”

“eh?"

“LONG STORY… TELL YOU TOMORROW. NOW GO TO SLEEP. LONG DAY TOMORROW.”

“we’re still gonna see mom, right?”

The Royal Scientist nodded as he ushered both his children into the bedroom. Papyrus slept like a rock the moment he touched the crib’s surface. As for Sans, the young skeleton climbed into bed and was tucked in Gaster. The older monster then lightly bumped his skull against his son’s, a gesture that was akin to a kiss. After all, skeletons didn’t have lips.

A while after, when Gaster was looking over some plans for the construction of the Core, the doorbell rang. The doctor went to his door puzzled, since he wasn’t expecting anyone, and salesmen rarely worked during the ‘night’ portion of the day.

“Gaster?” Oh, it was New’s voice. The skeleton opened the door to see his sister-in-law still wearing her armour, so she didn’t even had time to change -her casual outfit usually consisted of plain work-out clothes.

He gestured for her to come in. “HOW ARE THINGS?”

The female skeleton groaned as she plopped to the nearby couch. “Not good. Shortly after you left, the King went into a blind rage. Something about harvesting souls…” she rubbed her forehead. “This is a terrible day.”

Gaster didn’t reply.

“Both royal children… dead.”

“IT IS… UNSETTLING.”

New gave him a sideways glance. “Could you have done something?

The Royal Scientist shook his head. “MY WIFE IS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE YOU AS A TWIN, MEANING A PERSON THEY SHARE THE EXACT SAME TYPE OF MAGIC,” he signed. “OTHERWISE, ANY ATTEMPTS AT TRANSPLANTATION WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE BODY REJECTING THE MAGIC ITSELF AND THAT CAN HAVE… UGLY CONSEQUENCES.”

“We’re seeing her tomorrow morning, right?”

“YES, SHE SHOULD HAVE MADE A FULL RECOVERY BY THEN.”

“Alright.” The Head of the Royal Guard let out a long sigh. “I must take my leave then, give these old bones some rest. Have a good night and take care, alright?” She stopped at the exit. “Make sure you or Sans don’t burn the house down.”

“NOT WORRIED ABOUT PAPYRUS?”

“Papyrus is a wonderful child, he would never do that.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

"Sister," New said before pointing to Gaster, the small skeleton besides him and the baby skeleton on his lap. "Husband and kids. We are here to see Times Old Roman."

The clinic's receptionist, an old scaly lizard with a terrible hunch and even more terrible vision, led the four skeletons through the sterile hallway. As they walked, they passed through many rooms, some containing elderly monsters with fuzzy outlines, while some had bored children bouncing impatiently on the bed as the doctors on duty gave them a check-up.

They were at Ygeia Hospital, at the monster kingdom’s capital. It was the biggest hospital of the Underground, the hub of healthcare providers. Another unique feature was that it was built with the purpose of being the main hub; previous hospitals often started as clinics which, due to relatively big usage, expanded haphazardly.

Eventually, they reached a room at the back. It was close to the Intensive Care Unit, though not a part of it. The elder lizard left the skeletons, going somewhere else in the hospital. New opened the door, with Gaster in tow, to see another fellow skeleton in there already.

Said skeleton was perched perilously on the bed, light bulb in hand.

New’s eyes grew comically wide, as Gaster opened his mouth in disbelief and fear.

“Sister!”

The stout skeleton turned around and gave the other skeletons a friendly wave "Hello there, dear family! I am simply attempting to repaireth the lighteth fixture." Her voice was similar to her twin’s, seemingly refined and low-pitch, until put under stress, in which case it turned high-pitched and frantic.

"Get down!" New was currently demonstrating such a change.

"nah mom, keep going"

New glared at Sans. Papyrus, held tightly in Gaster's lap, let out a string of happy gibberish.

"No needeth to worry, sibling! I feeleth healthier than ever!" She flashed them the brightest of grins. "The treatment hath worked liketh a charm!"

New shrugged and scratched her forearm bone. "It was one of your husband's better ideas, which didn’t involve things going boom."

Gaster gave his sister-in-law a hurt look. Old let out a happy laugh, before plopping down at her bed and heading towards her sons.

"Oh, and how art thou two doing?" She asked happily as she got Papyrus from Gaster and picked up Sans, placing them both on her lap. "I’ve missed though both so much!" To further illustrate her point, she lightly bumped skulls with Sans and coddled Papyrus.

"doin fine" Next to Sans, Papyrus let out something resembling 'mom'

"That’s wonderful! How art things-?”

“i’m learning an instrument” Sans spoke up immediately, not giving anyone else a chance to talk.

“Such valorous news! What instrument art thee learning?”

Sans’ grin widened. This was never a good sign.

“the trom _bone_ ”

The room went quiet. New took a deep breath. Gaster hunched over in supressed laughter. Old gave her son the patient ‘I-AM-SCREAMING-INTERNALLY’ smile only a mother could muster.

New was the first one to recover. “Moving on…”

“yo mom, I found this” Sans spoke up again and reached into his jacket’s inner pocket. “thought it looked like you!” he said as he pulled out a folded piece of plastic-like paper.

New narrowed her eyes while her sister took the paper and started unfolded it. “How did you come across that, nephew?”

“there’s a girl at school, she trades surface stuff”

“What?! Who deals with counterfeit?! I want names-!”

“Calm thy horses, dearest sibling,” Old said as straightened out the poster, her face brightening up. “Why, that’s a lovely depiction of a fierce skeleton warrior! Thee shouldst all cometh and seeth it!”

The skeletons huddled closer to all see the poster.

New frowned, as she read through the human writing. “ _Skeletor_ … That’s a strange name.”

“I LIKE THE CAPE.”

Old nodded. “Aye, purple doest beholdeth valorous on that lady.”

“THE BODY THOUGH… IT HAS MUSCLES.”

“Bah!” New protested. “Humans can’t even get skeletons right!”

“Nevertheless, that’s a… how doeth young people say… a truly tubular gift! Within this wall of bone, there is a soul that counts thee its creditor, son!”

“heh, no prob…”

Old tilted her head in confusion. "What troubles thee, fruit of my loins? A mother notices such occurrences."

“uh…” Sans hesitated. “when you get out, can ya help me with my magic?”

“But of course!” The mother eagerly agreed. “The doctors here hath said I needeth to stayeth one more day, to maketh sure there art nay side-effects and the liketh. Tomorrow Sans, we shalt practice!”

“yay!”

The stayed like this for quite a while, making small talk. Sans made plenty more puns, to Gaster’s further amusement and the Roman sister’s not-so-amusement; Papyrus was adorable as always. Finally, New offered to take the kids to the candy store in the entrance of the hospital, giving the couple some to talk between themselves.

“So,” Old eventually said, “magic practice.”

“SANS AND I TRAINED EARLIER THIS WEEK. HE… IS QUITE ADEPT AT MAGIC.”

“That’s valorous. I realise thither art no humans around, but a mother can’t helpeth worrying.”

“HE MAY NEED YOU TO HELP HIM WITH HIS BLUE ATTACKS.”

“Hm? They art not a hard magic to master.”

“IT’S NOT THAT. HE ACCIDENTALY USED IT ON ME THOUGH. IT WAS A GOOD THING I HAD FOOD WITH ME.”

Old frowned in concern. “…How much damage?”

“1 HP. BUT BLUE MAGIC DON’T INHERENTLY DAMAGE.”

“They don’t. At least, I didn’t manageth to doth so. They art hath used as a way to limit the opponent’s movements.”

Gaster shrugged.

“Thee art the Royal Scientist, dear. I trust thee to figure it out. And at which hour I join thee, I shalt help thee keepeth an eye out for the kids as well.”

“I SUPPOSE…” Gaster signed. “HOW DO YOU FEEL?”

“Alright, I presumeth. Though I am still missing a rib…” She quickly brightened up. “Hey, at least we have matching battle scars now!” Old said, giving Gaster’s topmost crack a playful pat.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was a few hours later that Gaster, New and the kids had to leave. After many waves of goodbyes and many head bumping, the four skeleton waved their goodbyes at the female skeleton, as they exited the room. Old waved back, until they were gone from her sight. She settled back into the bed, seemingly relaxing.

There was a sharp pain at her side. Old clutched her rib in pain and hissed. From the corner of her eye, she saw the ends if her finger beginning to fade into dust.

 _No_.

Old's breath hitched.

_She would not give up._

The dust at her hand shuddered.

_She was going to see her sons grow up._

Her finger reassembled itself. Times Old Roman's eyes faintly glowed.

**_Determination._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia: Whenever naming new places/locations I’m just lazy and name them after the Greek word of what they represent. (E.g. Tavani area = Ceiling Area, Ygeia Clinic = Health Clinic). Very imaginative, I know.
> 
> Also, praiseth be to the online ye olde English translators.


End file.
